


As Long As Time Will Allow

by Jae__bby



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24310999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jae__bby/pseuds/Jae__bby
Summary: Kun and Sicheng were made for each other. From the dawn on time their souls have been intertwined, made from the same stardust. But the universe is cruel. Sicheng is as immortal as the star that he was made from, Kun's lives are as short and fleeting as a shooting star streaking across the sky. Sicheng never knows where or when Kun will reincarnate but he's the same every time and Sicheng will never stop loving him.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Qian Kun, Liu Yang Yang/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Comments: 11
Kudos: 53
Collections: Weishen Fest: ANYTHING BUT HUMAN





	1. Prologue

Before the earth, the sun, and all things we know, there was nothing. Infinite darkness and deafening silence. Then some greater cosmic force gathered what little light could be found and made one great star, a perfectly bright and brilliant star. Then little pieces of that star broke off and spread across the darkness, taking the light to the deepest and darkest corners. That one star turned into galaxies full of stars, asteroids, and planets; slowly expanding and stretching, growing beyond what anyone could ever imagine. After thousands of years, there wasn't much left of the original perfectly bright and brilliant star, just enough for one more creation, or perhaps two. 

The last bit of dust from the original star was blown across the universe to Earth where it settled in the grass of the Garden of Eden. It settled into the soil where the sun shined and the rain poured, eventually creating two humans; their souls forever bound by the stardust that made them, destined to always love one another for as long as time allowed. They spent their days chasing each other through the tall green grass of the garden, and lounging under the shade of a large tree that had grown where they'd been created, feeding each other the sweet fruits that would fall on them as they basked in each other's presence. They laughed and danced and sang without a care or a worry in their young minds. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't.


	2. In the Garden

Sicheng breathed deeply as a breeze rustled the branches of the great tree, sending a few of the yellowing leaves spirling gracefully down to the ground. It was their tree, the tree that they always credited to their creation, the tree that they spent all their days lounging under. The grass was soft as the fuzz of the dandelion they’d found yesterday, and it tickled the backs of their necks every time the wind blew. Sicheng turned to look at the boy laying next to him. His eyes were closed peacefully as he dozed blanketed by the sun’s warmth, his lips were parted slightly and Sicheng couldn’t help himself from pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, waking the older boy from his sleep.

“I pray mine love hast no foul intentions,” Kun said, not even opening his eyes to look at Sicheng.

Sicheng chuckled as he turned onto his side, laying closer to his love, “Would thou be so crossed?” he looked down at the other boy, admiring the soft features of his face like the gentle curve of his jaw and the sharp slope of his nose, of which he gently traced with his finger.

“Perhaps not with proper persuasion,” Kun smirked barely peeking open one eye to look up at the Sicheng, the sun behind him creating a golden halo around him. He closed his eyes again as Sicheng drew his thumb across his eyebrow, still carefully tracing his face.

“Do not jest,” Sicheng held Kuns face in his hand, his jaw seeming to fit perfectly in the soft palm of his lover. 

“You believe me to be dishonest?” Kun raised his eyebrow and tilted his head questioningly at the man, “Thou must be assured…” Kun gripped the front of Sicheng’s shirt, the fabric wrinkling under his tight grip, “I do intend to be persuaded,” Kun pulled at the fabric pulling the other man’s body flush against his own, their lips almost brushing, “by any way thou deems worthy.”

With that Sicheng pressed their lips together, his shirt still gripped tightly in Kun’s hand. Sicheng rolled back onto the grass pulling the older boy to rest over him as they kissed with a passion new as the earth they lived on. They kissed until their lungs burned the way they did after chasing each other through the fields, until they got bored of the feeling of fabric under their fingers. 

Both boys smiled as they pulled away, “Dost thou feel sufficiently persuaded?” Kun laughed, his smile brighter than the setting sun, and swung his leg over Sichengs legs to sit in his lap. Sicheng rested his hands on Kun’s hips and Kun held Sicheng’s face in his hands. Kun gently dragged his thumbs over the younger’s cheeks and reconnected their lips. Sicheng wrapped his arms around Kun’s waist and pulled his body flushed against his own. Sicheng got lost amongst all the soft touches and the feeling of Kun’s lips against his own and their noses brushing occasionally. Their hands roamed freely over each others bodies, unafraid of consequence or judgement until suddenly Kun pulled away and clutched his arm to his chest, and Sicheng watched as a little yellow and black bug flew off into the sky.

Sicheng looked up at Kun who was obviously in pain and gently pulled his arm away from his chest, it was red and swollen but the skin wasn’t broken, “Does it hurt badly?”

Kun nodded, “I have never seen an animal like that, did he tell you what that monster was?” 

Sicheng chuckled at the word monster before speaking again, “The creator did not-”

“Wasp,” the voice in Sicheng’s head spoke, Sicheng blinked away the odd feeling of someone else’s thoughts in his head before speaking again.

“He’s called it a wasp,” Kun’s arm was swelling more and more, turning a bright red as blood rose to the surface. Sicheng leaned down to kiss the wound, the skin warm against his lips. 

“Well wasps can be damned,” Kun huffed and pouted at Sicheng.

“I’ll rid the world of them for you,” Kun smiled coyly as Sicheng kissed his cheek.

Sicheng soft ran his thumb over the wound and Kun winced, pulling his arm away, “He should go to the river, perhaps the cool water will help,” Kun hummed in agreement and they both left the comfort of the shade under their tree to walk down to the river.

They reached the river and they found a rock by the water to sit on. Kun sat down and gestured for Sicheng to sit next to him but Sicheng shook his head and kneeled in the water in front of the older boy. Sicheng took Kun’s hand and pulled it gently towards the water before dipping his hand in the water and cupping his hand so he could pour the water over Kun’s arm. The older boy smiled fondly down at Sicheng as he continued to pour water over his arm, effectively cooling the irritated skin. 

Suddenly Kun felt oddly overwhelmed by an emotion he’d never felt and he was speaking words he didn’t even understand, “I love you.”

Sicheng stopped what he was doing and looked up at Kun, not sure if he heard him correctly, “Pardon?”

“I love you?” Kun said still not quite sure what it meant, but he was sure those were the right words. The words somehow perfectly described what he was feeling. The fluttering in his stomach whenever Sicheng looked at him, the breathlessness he felt when Sicheng kissed him, everything was perfectly described with those three words.

“I did not believe you could hear the creator?” 

“I cannot, it was a thought of my own,” Kun’s eyebrows were furrowed in thought, still confused by his own words. They’d never created something on their own, they relied solely on the creator to tell them what things were and how the world worked. Until now they didn’t even think they were allowed to think of their own things or have their own ideas, everything was always just told to them and they accepted it. 

“What does it mean?” 

Kun looked back at Sicheng, his heart suddenly racing, “I- it is-” He could find the words, it was simply a feeling, it was what he felt for the other boy, “It is not describable.”

“Well you must have some reasoning?” Sicheng said laughing dryly somewhat uncomfortable with an idea that didn’t come from the creator. Kun’s heart was still racing and his stomach began to turn uncomfortably at the idea of explaining the words to Sicheng. 

“I’m not certain,” Kun stood up from the rock and walked out of the water, away from his prying lover.

“You cannot just say things without meaning,” Sicheng reasoned as he followed Kun up the bank.

“It is just words.”

“But they must have meaning. Please you must know something,” Sicheng was not used to not understanding everything, the creator always told him everything he wanted to know but now not even the creator seemed to know the answer.

“It is not easily explained.”

“But yet it can be explained?” Sicheng refused to let this go, he needed answers.

“It- it is just how I figured to tell how I feel,” Kun replied shortly hooping it would be enough explanation for the other boy.

“How you feel about what?” Sicheng pushed further.

Kun stopped abruptly and turned to Sicheng who almost ran into him from how suddenly Kun had stopped, “It is how I feel about you, the airless feeling in my chest when you touch me and how my chest seems to thrum when you are near and how whenever I am with you I feel as though nothing could ever make feel more happy,” Kun was breathless again as if he’d been running for miles.

Sicheng stood silently for a moment, staring down at the grass as he thought about what Kun said. He slowly looked up from the ground and at Kun and he realized he felt the same way about Kun, “I love you also.”

Kun’s shoulders dropped and his breathing evened out, he didn’t realize how badly he wanted to hear Sicheng say the words he’d created until he’d said them. Kun stepped forward suddenly and captured Sicheng’s lips with his own and held the younger’s face in his hands, not allowing him to pull away, not that Sicheng wanted to anyway. Suddenly thunder boomed over head and the two boys pulled apart, startled by the loud noise. They both drew close to each other as dark clouds covered the sky. Rain started to pour from the clouds quickly soaking both of them, Sicheng was quick to grab Kun’s hand and run to their tree for shelter but as they got to the tree they noticed something odd. There was another person. They’d never seen another person before it had always just been the two of them. As they stepped under the shelter of the tree, Sicheng stepped in front of Kun, putting a barrier between him and the man in front of them.

“Took you both long enough,” The man spoke looking at them disdainfully as the rain stopped.

“Who are you?” Sicheng said watching the man carefully.

“Does my voice not sound familiar?” the man tilted his head almost mockingly.

“He is-” Kun spoke softly behind Sicheng.

“Your creator,” the man finished for Kun, both the boy’s jaws dropped. Their creator was standing in front of them under their tree, talking to them, “But you don’t have to call me your creator, sounds too…” he waved his hand as if trying to pick the right word out of the air, ”old worldly for me, call me Ten.”

“Ten?” both of the very confused boys questioned at once.

“Yes good job, now,” he sighed, “We have an issue,” Ten started to pace back and forth in front of the two boys who were watching him very intently, “It seems we’ve hit a little snag, you would think that this being my tenth try at this whole universe creation thing would mean I’ve got all figured out but you’ll never believe how many things can go wrong,” he shook his head as he rolled his eyes.

“Something has gone wrong?” Sicheng questioned.

“Seems so,” Ten stopped pacing and turned to the boys, “You two were doing so well but it always goes wrong eventually,” Ten shrugged, Kun and Sicheng glanced at each other nervously.

“What has gone wrong?” Sicheng asked, Kun hand gripped tightly in his own. 

“There’s always this issue with my creations thinking on their own and starting to create their own ideas and in your case you've created something that has the capacity to be stronger than me and we can’t have that can we?” 

“You mean the words I created earlier?” Kun spoke up.

“Yes, that pesky little word love always ruins everything,” Ten said his eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully, “You see everytime one of my creations finds this stupid little word they seem to think they are more powerful than me as long they stay together and the truth is they are and well I just can’t have that,” Ten started getting closer to the couple, “And that means one of you has to disappear, can’t have love getting in the way of my perfect world again. And since you,” Ten turned to Kun, “Created the word…” 

Suddenly Kun was gone. He was no longer behind Sicheng and his hand was no longer linked with Sicheng’s. 

“Where-”

“Gone,” Ten said bluntly.

“But…” Sicheng’s eyes burned as tears spilled over his cheeks and his heart beat so hard his chest ached.

“Don’t worry he’ll be back,” Sicheng perked up at that but was quickly shut down, “I let his soul come back to earth every now and again,” Ten stepped closer to Sicheng, “But never long enough for this love stuff to happen, fair?” Ten smiled wickedly at Sicheng who looked like someone had just ripped his heart out.

“How am I meant to live without him?” Sicheng asked quietly.

Ten rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous you’ll be fine, love is an unnecessary emotion.”

“I’m supposed to just walk the earth alone?” Sicheng spoke flatly.

Ten hummed contemplatively, “I was going to wait a couple hundred years before adding more people but I guess I can figure something out, but none of them will live forever like you.”

“So I will be eternally alone…” Sicheng felt as if his soul had left his body, how had everything gone so wrong so fast? 

Ten groaned and ripped off a branch of the tree, wincing as if it physically pained him, “I will make one person like you and I’ll let Kun’s soul reincarnate ever so often, but he’ll disappear before you two fall in love again, but at least you’ll see him right? I mean it’s better than him being dead forever,” Sicheng looked at Ten as if he was insane, “That’s all I’m offering so deal?”

Sicheng thought about it for a moment, he couldn’t lose Kun forever he’d lose his mind, “Deal.”


	3. Where the Stars Lead

Sicheng walked quickly through the corridors of a castle somewhere in the Scottish highlands. He was in charge of making sure the prince was always on time for his various appearances but as usual the prince was avoiding his duties and was nowhere to be found. Luckily, Sicheng had figured out the prince’s ridiculos games a long time ago. He knew all the hiding spots and secret passageways, it was just a matter of being able to beat the prince to them. He picked up his pace as he passed a window and saw the sun was about to dip below the horizon, he was running low on time. 

Sitting on one of the windowsills reading an old leather bound book was a dark haired man Sicheng knew all too well, “Dejun,” the boy looked up and sighed closing his book, “Have you seen him?” Sicheng asked.

Dejun was very well acquainted with the struggles of Sicheng’s job so no further explanation was needed and Dejun pointed at the door to one of the many libraries, “He took the way behind the tapestry,” Sicheng squinted at him suspiciously, “I would not lie to you. You should hurry, he's far ahead of you today,” with that he reopened his book and turned away from Sicheng.

Sicheng walked quickly into the library and pulled back one of the large tapestries on the wall to reveal a small door and quietly opened it and went inside. Sicheng walked through the small hallway, barely able to stand straight as he quickly made his way to the other side. When he reached the end of the tunnel he pressed himself into the small concave area of the wall before pulling the lever on the wall of the hallway that caused the wall he was leaning on to spin and deposit him into a smaller library with no windows or doors other than the one Sicheng had just come through. 

“How do you always find me?” 

There he was. Sat in a little nook in the corner, his dark hair sweeping across his forehead, a pout on his lips despite the playful glint in his eyes. He was, by all accounts, perfect. And as always, Kun took Sicheng’s breath away. Kun’s pout turned into a smile as he stood up and crossed the small library to stand in front of Sicheng. The immortal man made his best effort to not smile down at the other boy and to keep a look of annoyance on his face. 

“You know there are simpler ways to gain my attention?” Sicheng asked, raising his eyebrow at the younger.

“But none as fun as getting you to chase me through the castle,” Kun smiled at Sicheng like a child up to no good. 

“Maybe I will have to stop chasing you since you seem to find so much joy in it,” Sicheng told him, leaning closer to Kun, their faces mere inches apart.

“As if you do not find joy in chasing me,” Kun teased, his breath fanning against the older’s lips. 

“Perhaps I will go away and never return, and then you can chase me.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Kun smiled as he finally pressed their lips together.

Sicheng’s chest ached at the pure unbridled love he felt for the boy but couldn’t communicate. He pressed his lips more firmly against the other boy’s and moved to hold the back of his neck. Kun hummed as Sicheng started playing with the hair and the nape of his neck, and brought his hand up to rest on his hips.

“Should you not be getting dressed for the ball right now?” The voice startled the two boys and they instantly pulled apart. Sicheng scowled at Dejun who was standing at the door to the passageway, “I believe you should be going your highness,” Dejun spoke coldly making Kun quickly scurry to the door without a second glance at Sicheng.

“Must you alway be an insufferable-”

“You say this every time but if it were not for me your time with Kun would be cut in half,” Sicheng glared at Dejun, “We both know you are incapable of keeping your distance from the boy. You move too fast with him, he speaks the words, and you become depressed when Ten removes him from the world yet again, as if it is not your own fault. Without me he would’ve been gone many moons ago.”

Sicheng couldn’t help but be angry even if he knew Dejun was right. Dejun had been created shortly after Kun “died” the first time, he was the other immortal Ten had promised, but had Sicheng known he was going to so unbearably controlling and incapable of keeping his nose out of Sicheng’s business he never would’ve asked Ten to create another immortal. He was always there to interrupt the few times the two lovers had alone and always tried to keep Kun away from Sicheng. It was infuriating.

“What is the point of Kun’s soul being allowed back on earth if you will not let me see him.”

“His purpose is not for your pleasure.”

Sicheng’s jaw clenched in anger, “That has angered you has it?” Dejun spoke mockingly, and stepped closer to Sicheng and spoke dangerously low, “If it were not for you Kun would be able to live his life as he wants without dying long before he’s meant to. Do you not understand that you are the cause of his death? If you truly cared about him, you wouldn’t be here.”

“You know nothing of what it is like to share a soul with someone,” Sicheng spoked through gritted teeth before pushing past Dejun, their shoulders colliding violently. Dejun watched as Sicheng left the small library. He sighed and waited a moment before following him. 

The two immortals had this argument frequently. Dejun was tired of following Sicheng around and watching him get his heart broken again and again. If he was being entirely honest, he couldn’t care less about Kun and whether he lived or died, he was mortal that just how it worked. Sicheng howevert, he was immortal and choosing to spend all his life chasing someone he could never have and he hated admitting it but he cared about him. It hurt him to watch his friend get his heart broken time and time again and he’d say anything to convince Sicheng to forget about Kun. But no matter how hard he tried and no matter what he said or did Sicheng would never give up on Kun. 

In the grand ballroom of the castle, a large crowd had gathered, all of them making pointless small talk while sipping on the finest champagne. A small group of young women gathered towards the back of the room, each of them dressed in the finest gowns their families could afford, chattering anxiously about the prince and about how they planned to win his affections once he arrived. One girl said she had taken many etiquette classes and would be the perfect royal wife. Another said her father was offering alliance between the two countries if they were to be married. The next said her father was offering half of his land, one said she would get by on beauty alone, then another said she was “perfect for bearing children” whatever that was supposed to mean. Sicheng rolled his eyes at the ridiculous things they claimed would make Kun marry them. If only they knew. He sighed and tapped his foot impatiently, Kun would be making his entrance anytime now and Sicheng wouldn’t miss it for the world. He loved to watch Kun take his role as prince of the highlands, his chin held high, dressed in the best clothes money could buy, a gold crown perched on top of his his; he had a sort of arrogance about him when it came to events like this. He was important and he knew it. That’s why he never bothered to be on time and had no problem sneaking around with Sicheng and avoiding his responsibilities, no party would start without him. And maybe Sicheng just liked knowing that the only person who got to see Kun as he truly was, was him. Kun had to play the part of a prince for everyone else, but when he was with Sicheng he got to be whatever he wanted, he got to be himself. 

Quite a while passed and there was still no sign of Kun. The small group of girls had broken up to go mingle with the many other eligible bachelors in the room and Sicheng had heard the king making excuses for his son's absence to every person he talked to. He scanned the room, had Kun somehow gotten in without being noticed? He paused for a moment when he saw Dejun. He was chatting up some elite member of the English royal family and all the girls near him were glaring fiercely at him, angry at him for taking one of the royals for himself. Sicheng couldn’t say he was surprised, Dejun may be an insufferable brat but he was charming and handsome nonetheless, he could have anyone, man or woman, wrapped around his finger with only a few words. Sicheng watched as Dejun smiled and laughed at something the man had said, laying his hand on his shoulder which made the man smirk and step closer to Dejun. He watched as Dejun leaned forward to whisper something in the man’s ear, then smiled at each other as they pulled away, and Dejun took the man’s hand and guided him through the crowd, and slipped out one of the backdoors. Sicheng rolled his eyes for probably the thousandth time that night. Dejun may not believe in love, but he certainly believed in lust. 

“Where is my son?” Sicheng was broken from his thoughts as the king grabbed his arm. 

“I assure you if I knew I would’ve gone to get him long ago,” Sicheng said, not even looking at the king, the king was obviously offended by his small act of rebellion but what was he going to do, kill him?

“You are paid to insure that he is where he is meant to be,” The king spoke angrily.

Sicheng sighed and wrenched his arm away from the king, “Perhaps if you did not force your son to be someone he is not I would not have to chase him around the castle to take him to ridiculous parties and balls he does not wish to be apart of,” with that Sicheng left to find Kun. 

Part of Sicheng was scared as he left the ballroom. Kun may avoid his responsibilities and make Sicheng chase him for hours sometimes, but he always surrendered eventually; but never had he just not showed at all. As far as Sicheng knew, after he had left the library Kun had spent the day getting ready for the ball, but maybe, for once, he was wrong. Sicheng’s heart beat almost painfully in his chest. He had even realized he was running until he felt the burning of his lungs. Sicheng couldn’t think of anything other than Kun, tears filled his eyes as he thought of the worst possible outcomes. He didn’t even get to say goodbye. Sicheng was panting erratically by the time he reached Kun’s door, he paused for a moment, leaning heavily against the doorframe. He wished he could say he was praying for Kun’s safety but he knew “god” and god did not care about him or Kun. 

He held his breath as he pushed Kun’s door open, silently begging the universe to let Kun be there. He stepped inside and immediately let out a sigh of relief when he saw Kun standing by the window. He turned around at the sound of someone entering his room and Sicheng quickly crossed the room and pulled Kun into his arms. Sicheng held him tightly to his chest and pressed his lips to the younger’s forehead. 

“I thought something had happened to you,” Sicheng told Kun as he pulled away and brought his hand up to hold Kun’s face, “Has something happened?” he asked when he noticed Kun’s sad expression.

“I do not want to be married,” Kun said softly, reaching up to push Sicheng’s hand away before turning back to the window.

Sicheng stepped closer to Kun, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder, “Sometimes we must do things for the good of others rather than for ourselves.”

“When do I get to do something for myself?” Kun tilted his head back to lean against Sicheng shoulder.

“What would you like to do?” 

“Be with you. Forever and not in secret.” 

Sicheng closed his eyes as if Kun’s words had hurt him. Of course that was all he wanted, that was all either of them ever wanted. 

Before Sicheng could respond Kun spoke again, “I will never feel this way for anyone else, it is only you, you make me feel something- something I’ve never felt before.”

Sicheng’s blood ran cold. He wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready to lose Kun again. He backed away from Kun, putting distance between them as if that would stop Kun. 

“I have been thinking about it a lot, I have spent so much time in the libraries searching for a word that describes the way I feel for you,” Kun turned around to face Sicheng, “But there seems to be no word for it, but then as if it was a dream, a word came to me,” Sicheng’s breath picked up as Kun stepped closer, “Sicheng I-” 

Sicheng quickly stepped forward and covered Kun’s mouth to keep him from speaking, “Please do not,” tears immediately appeared in Sicheng’s eyes, “Please I cannot hear it, and you cannot say it,” Sicheng begged as tears began falling down his cheeks. 

Kun stepped back, freeing himself from Sicheng’s hold, “I must, I cannot live if you do not know how I feel.”

“I know, I promise I know, you do not have to tell me,” Sicheng pleaded, but he knew it was already too late, there was no stopping Kun once he had figured it out.

“If you know then what harm is it to let me tell you?” Kun looked hurt by Sicheng’s desperate attempt to avoid his affection.

“Please-”

“Sicheng I love you,” Sicheng quickly shut his eyes, he couldn’t bear to watch Kun disappear.

“I love you too,” Sicheng spoke through the tears and the tightness in his throat before collapsing to the ground. 

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, “We have to go, they're going to look for him and when they can not find him, they will look for you,” it was Dejun.

Sicheng had no idea how long he'd been sitting on the ground sobbing, but his legs felt numb as Dejun pulled him up and dragged him out the door. 

"Where is the royal you stole from the ball," Sicheng asked bitterly as Dejun dragged him through the hallways of the castle and out to the stables. 

"Probably waking up from the draught I gave him and realizing he has been robbed blind," he glanced back to look at a surprised Sicheng, "I knew it would happen tonight, and one of us has to make sure we survive to tomorrow."

When they entered the stable there were two horses already saddled, and all their belongings were packed away in the saddle bags. They were ready to run away again. Sicheng considered the scene. How many times had they run away from the lives they'd built because of Kun's death and how many more times would they have to do it? How many more times would Sicheng have to lose Kun?

"He will come back," Dejun spoke, seeing Sicheng's sadness, "He will always come back."

"But he will never stay, he will always vanish like the stars in early morning light," Sicheng looked at Dejun and even if the latter didn't believe in love, he could practically feel the heartbreak just from looking his the other's eyes. 

"Stars always reappear upon nightfall," Dejum reasoned, but this did not seem to mean anything to Sicheng who continued to stare blankly at the horses. He sighed, there was no consoling Sicheng when he was like this, "I will never know your troubles, but if we do not leave right now you will never see Kun again because they will kill you." 

"My soul is eternal, they cannot kill me."

"It is fair to believe that if they separate your head from your body your soul will cease to exist," Dejun lightly pushed Sicheng towards the horse, "We must go. Now." 

Sicheng didn't bother fighting him and lifted himself onto the horse as Dejun did the same, "Where will we go?" Sicheng's voice was hollow. 

"Where the stars lead us."


	4. An Underground Love

Kun chuckled to himself as he picked up a paper from the news stand, “$100 Reward For Mob Information” was the headline running across the top of the paper in large black letters. The police had been searching Chicago high and low for months and had never found anything worth finding. There’d been so many raids of random houses and businesses, none of them with any connection to Kun or his side business. Kun has been selling alcohol under the table, using his best friend’s barber shop as a cover. The shop was located in the heart of Chicago, so there were always people coming in, there was a constant flow of money, making it easy for Kun to hide his alcohol profits in the shop's numbers. They’d never caught him, they never would catch him. He was untouchable. Invincible. 

The wind blew apart the newspaper as Kun threw it to the ground. He rolled the sleeves of his light blue dress shirt up over his elbows, the sweat gathering in his hair under the dark flat cap on his head. It was nearing July, he couldn’t think of why he’d decided to wear a cap in the heat. Sweat had just begun to drip down the side of Kun’s forehead as he entered the barber shop. He sighed in relief as he stepped into the shop, reaching up to pull off his cap and run a hand through his damp hair. The shop was busy, as usual, every chair was filled, all of the regulars. Except one. Kun stopped for a moment and looked the man over. Non-regulars were dangerous, an unknown quantity. Most of the shop's customers also bought alcohol while they were at the shop and new people made that difficult. For all Kun knew the man could be cop, and that would really throw a wrench in all his plans. 

“Don’t worry about him,” Johnny, Kun’s best friend said as he walked behind the counter and opened the cash register, tucking a wad of cash away in the drawer, “He just moved into one of the apartments up the street, he’s safe.”

“How do you know?” Kun said, raising a suspicious eyebrow at his friend, “He could be lying, one slip up and we all go down,” Kun looked back at the man squinting his eyes, looking for any hint that he was not who he said he was. He was dressed in street clothes, they were average quality, but not typical of fashion in Chicago, which could mean he did actually just move to the city, or it was a carefully thought out costume to match a carefully thought out story.

“Go see for yourself then, you’ve alway been better at spotting liars,” Johnny nodded towards the man, “I’m going to go ‘take inventory’,” he said as he pushed past Kun and headed into the back room. 

Kun crossed the shop to talk to the new customer, who had just finished and had stood up from his chair. He turned to leave but came face to face with Kun. Kun had been ready to interrogate this man, figure out if he could be trusted; but as soon as they locked eyes all words were gone from Kun’s brain. Kun had stopped breathing, the air stuck in his throat and his mouth suddenly dry. This man was beautiful. When Kun finally regained the ability to think his thoughts were nothing but sinful.

“Umm... “ Sicheng chuckled awkwardly as he waited for the man to say something, “Did you need something?”

Kun blinked away the cloudiness in his mind and tried to gather enough words to form a non-obtrusive sentence, “I just- uhhh, I’ve never seen you here before,” Kun said still looking at Sicheng as if he was trying to memorize every feature of the man's face.

“I just moved to the city, I live in the apartments up the street, I’ve been traveling so long my hair had gotten quite unruly and I heard this was the best shop around,” Sicheng smiled and yet again Kun was at a loss for words. 

“What are your thoughts on the prohibition,” Kun blurted out without even thinking, this man really had made him go brain dead just by looking at him. Kun was also so quick and such a smooth talker, but now he felt like they weren’t even speaking the same language. 

Sicheng laughed as Kun’s cheeks flushed red, “Why are you afraid I’m a cop,” Sicheng teased, Kun opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t formulate words he was quite literally speechless, Sicheng smirked, “well, I can’t say I’d buy illegal alcohol, that would get me in trouble,” Sicheng stepped closer to Kun and spoke quietly so only Kun could hear, “but between you and me, I’d do anything for a glass of champagne.”   
Sicheng took a step back and pulled his wallet from his pocket, pulling out a dollar bill and slipping it into Kun’s shirt pocket, “My name is Sicheng, I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of me.”

Kun watched as he turned and walked out the doors of the shop. He flinched as a hand clapped his shoulder, “I’m not sure what just happened, but seeing you at a complete loss for words over that man was the highlight of my week,” Johnny laughed and shook his head as he walked back to the counter. Kun scrubbed a hand over his face before turning on his heel and heading to the back room.

Kun peeked his head out the door of the shop and looked up and down the street. The sun had set long ago, the streetlights overhead giving the streets an almost eerie yellow glow. There weren't many people left out on the street, just a few lone business men making their way back home after a day at the office. Kun shut the door before flipping the sign on the door to closed, and locking the door. He glanced out the window just one more time to be safe, forever paranoid. He walked to the back, it was where they kept all the alcohol they sold and held “meetings” to talk about who they would sell to and how much they were making. He scanned the room upon entering. Johnny was in his usual seat in the corner talking animatedly with Mark and Renjun, two kids Kun had sort of adopted and made sure they always had a place to stay and food to eat; they were probably the best at selling, no one ever suspected them. Jaehyun and Hyuck sat on the couch bickering as usual, but there was someone else sitting with them.

“Who the hell let my little brother in here?” Kun said looking down at his brothers disapprovingly.

Johnny looked at Kun, seemingly confused, “He said you told him to come?”

“Go home Lele,” Kun grabbed the younger boy by the shoulder and pulled him up off the couch.

“Come on,” Chenle groaned, wrenching his shoulder out of Kun’s grip, “I’m 15 now! I can help!”

Kun sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Lele you can’t be here, your mother will kill me.”

“She’s our mother and if you hate her so much why do you care what she thinks?” 

“I don’t but-”

“Well it sounds like you do,” Chenle always knew just how to push Kun’s buttons and get what he wanted.

Kun looked to Johnny for help, “Maybe we just let him, see if it works out,” He offered with a shrug of his shoulder.

“You are not helpful,” Kun said to Johnny before looking back at Chenle, “You get one chance. Keep your head down, stay out of trouble, and if your mother finds out I had nothing to do with it. Got it?” Chenle nodded and sat back down on the couch, Kun sighed and shook his head, he knew this was a bad idea.

“Johnny how much did we make this week?” 

“217 but with the cops offering such high bounty for us we have to be careful who we sell to anymore, like your new guy-”

“New guy?” Jaehyun spoke up and suddenly everyone’s attention was on Kun.

“It’s just some guy that came into the shop today, just moved in down the street, willing to pay top dollar for a bottle of champagne,” Kun shrugged it off, turning to the small desk and started writing on a small slip of paper.

“What do we know about this guy?” Those who thought Kun was paranoid had definitely never met Jaehyun 

“Not much considering Kun became mute when he saw the guy,” Johnny smirked.

“I can talk my way out of anything, you should learn from me, no don’t listen to Johnny,” Hyuck said mocking Kun, making the rest of the boys laugh.

Kun finished writing and tore the paper away from the notepad, folded it, and slid it into his pocket, “The new guy is cleared and that’s that,” Kun pulled a bottle of champagne from one of the many boxes, “Let’s shoot for 250 this week yeah? Oh, and let’s throw a party this weekend, celebrate sales, maybe draw in a few more customers?” he suddenly turned to his little brother and point a finger at him accusingly, “Lele don’t do anything stupid. The rest of you have a good night,” with that Kun walked out of the room.

“He used to be so fun before he was in love,” Johnny said sighing.

“I heard that,” Kun shouted before closing the door behind him.

~....................~

“I think it’s for you,” Dejun said holding a bottle of champagne and a folded piece of paper. 

Sicheng smiled at the thought of Kun before taking the bottle and the note from Dejun. He uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses of champagne before reading the note, priorities and such.

Sicheng,

It was lovely to meet you this afternoon and I do hope I will be seeing you more in the shop. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I don’t simply work in a barber shop, I’d be surprised if that’s not why you stopped by in the first place. That being said I hope you consider this a housewarming gift as well as a sample of our best product. If you feel as though you don’t want to drink alone, you know where to find me. 

Xx, Kun

“He’s asking you on a date already?” Dejun said, reading the note over Sicheng’s shoulder.

Sicheng scowled at him as he clutched the note to his chest to keep him from reading anymore. He turned to leave the kitchen but not before Dejun spoke again, “Should I even bother unpacking then?” 

Sicheng stopped dead in his tracks, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on Sicheng don’t pretend like you don’t know how this is going to happen,” upon getting no response Dejun continued, “You talked to him for what? A minute? And he’s already asking you on a date. And you can’t help yourself so I wouldn’t be surprised if you come home tomorrow with him on your arm. Shall we make a bet on how long this time will last? I am willing to say two weeks, tops.” 

“Why are you so mean,” Sicheng finally spoke his voice wavering from the tightness in his throat.

Dejun sighed and stepped closer to Sicheng, resting a hand on his shoulder, “I’m not mean Sicheng, I’m realistic. You can’t get your hopes up everytime, you just crash harder when it’s all over, I’m just trying to prepare you for what will inevitably happen.”

“You think my hundreds of years of experience isn’t enough preparation?” Sicheng was trembling now, trying in vain to not clench his fists in anger and ruin the note.

Dejun took a deep breath through his nose, “Just go put your note in your little box and ignore me like you always do then.”

Sicheng grabbed the bottle and his glass, he didn’t very much feel like sharing anymore. In times like this, when Dejun was driving him mad, all Sicheng wanted was to be with Kun, nothing could bother him when they were together, but that would only prove Dejun right. Sicheng shut his bedroom door and set the champagne on his bedside table, and pulled a small wooden box from the drawer. He sat on the bed and gently took the lid off the box revealing all the handwritten notes Kun had ever given him along with some pictures they’d taken and drawings they’d done. Sicheng took a sip of his drink, feeling as though being drunk might make the memories hurt a little less. He pulled out one of the notes and began reading it, carefully tracing Kun’s words with his finger. He did this a lot. Sometimes just tracing over the words Kun had written him was as close as he could get to actually having him in his arms. He wished it was enough. He wished he could survive off old memories and heartfelt words but he was weak when it came to Kun, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t stay away. Seeing him today was like coming inside to a warm fire after having been out in the cold, or watching the sun set over the sea after a storm. Sicheng’s whole life had felt like a storm and the only sunny days were when Kun was around. He was endlessly positive and happy, everything Sicheng always felt he was missing, his other half. Tears began to burn his eyes again but before they could fall there was a knock at his door.

“Come in,” He quickly folded the note he had been reading, and collected the other notes he’d read from the bed before tucking it away in his drawer, and laying on his bed as if he hadn’t been about to cry moments before. 

Dejun opened the door and sighed, “I’m sorry.” 

“You just want me to share with you,” Sicheng answered while sipping on his drink.

“Yes, but I’m also sorry,” Dejun entered the room and say at the end of the bed, “It’s not my job to tell you how to love him and if you want to go out with him tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that it’s none of my business. I just hate to see you upset.”

Sicheng smirked, “You always say you don’t care but I’m beginning to think you care more than anyone,” the other boy scoffed and rolled his eyes, Sicheng just chuckled softly and handed him the bottle, which he took gladly. 

“Are you going to go see him tomorrow?” 

Sicheng thought about it for a moment, he knew he shouldn’t. He should wait and build the tension that Dejun was always talking about, but it was so hard to stay away, especially when Kun was right down the street, “I’m not sure, I won’t make a point to go see him but if I happen to pass the shop and he sees me well that can’t be helped.”

“So you’re going to spend all day walking up and down the street just to pass the window in hopes that he’ll see you?” Sicheng slapped Dejun’s shoulder playfully as they both laughed.

“I have to go to work tomorrow so I’ll have to pass it anyway.”

“You got a job?” Dejun tilted his head in surprise.

“Yeah, I’m going to be a nurse at the hospital, they’re short and said they could really use the help so I figured why not,” Sicheng shrugged and took another swig of his champagne, finishing his first glass, and handing it to Dejun for him to refill. The two of them planning to drink the night away.  
“Why is the sun so damn bright,” Sicheng mumbled to himself as he walked quickly down the street, he and Dejun may have finished the whole bottle of champagne and stayed up longer than he had originally planned and was now late to his job. He had walked maybe ten feet past the barber shop before he heard an all too familiar voice calling is his name. Sicheng turned around to see Kun, he was already late, what was a few more minutes?

“Where were you headed?” Kun asked, his smile bright as ever. 

“I’m going to work,” Sicheng smiled back.

“I’ll walk you there,” Kun said as he started to walk.

Sicheng looked down as his cheeks flushed red, “Trying to woo me already?” 

“No not at all,” Kun said, feigning offense, “I just want to make sure you feel well and truly welcomed.” 

“I think your gift was plenty of a welcome.”

“So you liked it then?” Kun suddenly was standing a little straighter, proud that Sicheng had liked his gift.

“I did, you really didn’t have to do that,” Sicheng told him. Kun probably could’ve gotten 20 dollars for that bottle if he had sold it.

“Of course I did,” Kun looked at Sicheng with a smirk, “Not everyday a beautiful boy moves in down the street,” Sicheng was blushing again.

“We have to cross here,” Sicheng told him as they approached a busy street.

“My mother always told me that when you come to a busy street, you have to hold hands when you cross,” Kun said, offering his hand to Sicheng, “Purely for safety reasons.”

“For someone in your line of work you seem to be very concerned with safety,” nonetheless Sicheng took Kun’s hand before crossing the street. 

The hospital Sicheng was working at was only a ten minute walk from his apartment, but if it took 20 minutes to get there because Sicheng walked slower than normal and took the extremely long way to get there and then pretended that he didn’t know there was a shorter way, well that was his business. His time with Kun was always shorter than he liked so he’d do anything to cram a few extra minutes in where he could. He could almost cry upon seeing the hospital come into view, his time with Kun was up. 

“Well here we are,” Sicheng said, hoping Kun would assume the sadness in his voice was from having to work and not from having to leave him, “Thank you for walking with me.”

“Of course…” Kun trailed off as if debating what to say next.

“Was there something else you needed?” 

“I’m having a party this weekend, well not just me, me and my uh… business partners. I would love it if you would come,” It was Kun’s turn to blush now

“I’d be happy to,” Sicheng smiled as Kun let out a nervous breath.   
“Okay,” Kun smiled back, his face still a light pink, “It’s going to be in my apartment, it’s the penthouse above the barber shop, Just take the stairs at the side of the building all the way up.”

“Penthouse?” Sicheng smirked, “Okay big spender I’ll be there,” he laughed at Kun’s shy expression before opening the door to the hospital and heading inside. 

Kun sighed and smiled dreamily at Sicheng through the window, watching him until he could no longer see him.

~....................~

“Dejun-”

“I swear to god if you ask me if you look okay again I’ll punch you,” The other boy said as he knocked on the door of the penthouse above the barber shop. 

Before anything else could be said the door swung open to reveal the tall man Sicheng met at the shop earlier that week, he couldn’t quite remember his name, but he invited them inside and they quickly obliged. The apartment was stunning. The marble floor shined under the beautiful crystal chandelier overhead. Large, thick black curtains framed every window and the apartment was filled with people all chattering amongst each other. Sicheng scanned the crowd for Kun, and quickly found him standing up on the balcony overlooking the party, Sicheng made his way to the stairs and climbed them quickly. 

“You came!” Kun handed Sicheng a glass of champagne upon seeing him.

“You sound surprised,” Sicheng smiled and took a sip from the glass.

Kun and Sicheng sat on the balcony for hours just talking, catching up. After probably a few too many drinks they were practically in each other's laps, the party long since forgotten.

“Isn’t your boyfriend going to be upset that you’re here with me?” 

“My what?” Sicheng asked taking a drink from his glass.

“The man you came with, I think you said his name was Dejun,” Sicheng choked on his drink, spluttering frantically.

“Dejun and are not together, I can barely stand living with him,” Sicheng said clearing his throat.

“So what I’m gathering is,” Kun leaned closer to Sicheng, “You’re available,” He smirked.

“To the right person,” It was Sicheng’s turn to lean closer.

“Yeah? Like who?”

Sicheng hummed contemplatively, “Tall, funny, generous,” Sicheng gestured to his glass, “I’ve also sort of got a thing for criminals,” Kun rolled his eyes with a smirk. 

“I wouldn’t say I’m a criminal-”

“You are in an illegal business,” Sicheng raised his eyebrow at Kun.

“Well you would know all about crime wouldn’t you?” Kun said turning away from Sicheng, lifting his glass to his lips.

“I beg your pardon? I have never committed a crime,” said feigning offense.

“You’re a thief,” Kun spoke plainly as if it was a fact known by all.

“I have never-” 

“You’ve stolen my heart,” Kun smirked again and Sicheng rolled his eyes as he laughed. 

“Hmm, if that’s so then I guess it’s worth being called a thief,” they both fell silent just staring into each other's eyes, a strange intensity growing between them. 

Sicheng had missed Kun more than he thought and even though he knew this life would be over faster than he’d like, he was going to savor every moment.


	5. Old School Love

“You’re really going to study?” Dejun asked as he watched Sicheng shove a few books into his bag.. 

Sicheng zipped up his bag and slipped his leather jacket on, “Yes. He’s 17, if I want to see him, I have to go to school which means I have to study.”

“No one said you had to be good at school,” Dejun reasoned.

“Kun is a good student, all he does is study,” Sicheng sighed, “and I already know everything, I just have to pretend to study.”

“Whatever you say,” just then a car horn sounded outside, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Dejun smiled innocently.

“That’s not a lot,” Sicheng said as he opened the door and headed out to the car. 

Sicheng smiled at Kun as he approached the car, waving slightly before opening the passenger door, “Remember to save yourself for marriage Sicheng,” Dejun shouted before shutting the door. 

Kun chuckled as Sicheng’s face turned bright red, Sicheng was about to apologize but Kun spoke first, “Don’t worry about it, if we went to my house my brothers would do the same thing,” Kun smiled at Sicheng, making the cute little crinkles appear by his eyes. 

“So where are we going?” Sicheng asked as Kun pulled out of the driveway.

“Well I was thinking since you're new to town I could take you to one of the best places around.” 

“Can’t wait,” Kun broke his gaze from the road for a moment to glance at Sicheng who was smiling sweetly at him. 

Kun took Sicheng to a little diner on the outskirts of town. It was a small white building with accents of baby blue, and the sign above the door read: Darling Darla’s Diner. They walked in and were greeted by a young girl who Sicheng had seen around the school a few times. She was wearing one of those paper soda jerk hats, it had a thick baby blue stripe running the whole way around the hat, and the side of the hat was emblazoned with thick, script, letters spelling out Darling’s. She was wearing black, high top, converse that blended in with the black and white checkerboard floor. In the corner there was a large jukebox that was playing Earth Angel as it faded from color to color, and on the wall around the jukebox were various records. In fact, almost every inch of every wall was covered in pictures of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and other people that Sicheng didn’t recognize but he knew Kun adored. Sicheng was broken from his thoughts by Kun putting his hand on the small of his back and gently ushering him forward to follow the girl who was leading them to a table. The booths and chairs were covered in black patent leather with silver chrome framing. To the left, was a long bar by the kitchen with milkshake cups holding various items like straws and silverware. They made their way to a booth and sat down across from each other. An older waitress approached the table, she was wearing a powder blue poodle skirt with a white button up shirt tucked into it, and a black ascot tied around her neck. Her grey hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, her bangs were formed into a victory roll, and she had black cat eye glasses with rhinestones in the corners that made her small eyes look even smaller. The waitress handed the boys two menus, and Kun took both of them. Sicheng looked at him confused but Kun only looked at the waitress. 

"One chocolate milkshake please Darla, two straws," Kun looked at Sicheng and winked as Sicheng's face turned bright red at the implication. The waitress scoffed as she snatched the menus out of Kun's hands and made her way back to the kitchen, her kitten heels clicking loudly against the tile as she walked. Sicheng turned to look at Kun again, Kun had his chin resting on his hand and he was just looking at Sicheng like he'd hung the moon. Kun was always like this. Always the romantic one. Always the one to make the first move and his move was always something extravagant and never failed to make Sicheng blush. Like in 1517, Sicheng and Kun both worked for King Henry the Eighth and Kun would always steal food from the kitchen and sneak into Sichengs room at night to share with him. And in Amsterdam, 1637, during the height of Tulip fever, Kun left a dozen of the rarest, most expensive tulips on his doorstep. And again in New York in 1761 when Sicheng was working as a secretary for Phillip Schuyler. Kun was a paperboy, some would've thought Kun was too low class for Sicheng but Kun would save up for months just so he could buy Sicheng the prettiest quills and the brightest inks. Kun was always enough for Sicheng.

Sicheng could've happily spent the rest of the night recounting all the ways Kun has loved him over their hundreds of years, but he'd learned a long time ago that memories could ever compare to the real thing; and Kun was here, now, sitting across from him, on their first date of this century. He couldn't help but smile at Kun, he always tried to play hard to get but honestly he had always been terrible at it, he always succumbed to Kun's charms within their first week together. This time around he lasted a whole four days at Kun's school before he agreed to go on a date with the boy. 

Kun subtly slid his hand across the table until their knuckles were just barely touching. Sicheng glanced down at their hands and then back to Kun.

"Careful, people might think we're together," Sicheng teased making Kun smile.

Kun leaned closer to Sicheng and spoke in a whisper, "Maybe I want them to think we're together."

"Maybe I want that too," Sicheng whispered back, lacing their fingers together. Kun smiled widely and gently squeezed the other boy's hand. Just then the waitress from before set their shake onto the table, with two straws, just as Kun had requested. Neither boy moved, they both just sat there, eyeing the milkshake.

"Try it," Kun said nodding his head towards the glass.

"But what about-"

"I've lived here my whole life, I know what Darla's shakes taste like, but you..." Kun pushed the glass towards Sicheng slowly, "You have never had one."

"I thought the two straws were so we could share?" Sicheng slid the glass back to the middle of the table. 

"Oh uh I-" Kun looked suddenly flustered.

"Unless that was just you trying to be smooth?" Sicheng tilted his head, smirking and he spun one of the straws between his fingers. 

"No! No, we're totally going to share it, I just thought you would want to try it first," he paused and tried to think of something else to say, "You know in case you hate it or something..." He trailed off, laughing uncomfortably as Sicheng smiled fondly at him.

"Just drink it with me would you?" Sicheng rolled his eyes playfully before lowering his mouth to the straw. Kun was quick to follow suit and before either of them knew it the whole shake was gone, no studying had been done, the jukebox was off, and it was definitely past Kun's curfew. 

Eventually Darla kicked them out grumbling something about "damn kids in her diner an hour after closing" and Sicheng and Kun wandered back to the latter's car, love drunk and happy. Sicheng leaned up against the passenger side door flinching slightly as the cold of the metal seeped through his thin tee-shirt.

"Here," Kun said, sliding his letterman off his shoulders.

"You’ll get cold, I'm okay, really," Sicheng tried to push the jacket back into his hands, but Kun was having none of it and hung the jacket over Sicheng's shoulders, shielding him from the cold. Sicheng mumbled out a thank you and pulled the jacket tighter around him.

"Wear it to the football game on friday," Sicheng didn't make an effort to keep up with what was popular or what people Kun's age were into or what they were doing, but he knew exactly what he was asking. 

"You- are you sure?" 

Kun let out a short, breathy laugh and looked down at the ground almost like he was embarrassed, "I really like you, I know we've only been on one date but I'm scared that if I don't say you're mine now someone might try to steal you from me," he said the last part as if it was a joke but Sicheng knew he was all too serious. 

"That could never happen," Sicheng spoke, making Kun break his intense eye contact with the ground to look at him, "I really like you too," he spoke softly before leaning forward to press their lips together. Kun held Sicheng's hips in his hands gently, and he felt the soft fabric of his letterman as he stroked his thumbs along the younger boy's hip bones, well, actually, it really wasn't his letterman anymore now was it.


	6. Something DIfferent

“I’m telling you something’s different this time,” Sicheng spoke with an almost aggressive intensity, “He looks at me like he knows me,” Sicheng glanced across the cafe to look at Kun who was sitting in the corner typing away at his laptop.

“He does know you, you hacked into the school’s computer system to make sure of that, “ Dejun said, still looking down at the journal he was sketching in.

“No,” Sicheng sighed exasperatedly, “Not like that, you know what I mean,” Sicheng paused waiting for Dejun to say something but was only met with the sound how his pencil dragging across the paper, “Dejun he remembers me this time.”

It was Dejun’s turn to sigh now, he dropped his pencil onto the journal and closed it before looking up at Sicheng, “You’re getting your hopes up for something that’s quite literally impossible and you’re going to be devastated when you realize you’re wrong and he has no clue who you really are.”

Sicheng wanted to be mad. He wanted to tell him he was wrong but at this point he knew better than to trust himself about things like this. He had a habit of making bad decisions when it came to Kun. It was always just easier to imagine that Kun already knew him and they didn’t have to go through the awkward small talk and getting to know each other part, he just always wanted to believe that one day Kun would remember and they could stop going through this terrible cycle. 

Dejun saw the look of disappointment on his friends face and took a deep breath, as much as he thought the idea of chasing after one person for all of time was ridiculous, he knew it wasn’t easy, “Look I know it’s hard to pretend that you know nothing about him and like you haven’t loved him for longer than he can even comprehend but getting your hopes up like this is only going to make it harder on you.” 

Sicheng smirked at Dejun, sadness still hidden in his eyes, “Aww you do care,” Dejun scoffed in disgust and reopened his journal.

Sicheng smiled and looked past his friend again to stare at Kun. He was sat back in his chair, his eyes scanning across the screen, and his coffee gripped tightly in his hands. He brought the cup to his lips but stopped as someone approached the table. It was a man who looked to be around Kun’s age, he was tall and broad, obviously muscular under his thin tee-shirt. If Sicheng didn’t have Kun he might have tried to talk to him. Kun immediately smiled widely at the man, melting Sicheng’s heart and making him smile dreamily at the boy. His smile quickly turned to a frown though as Kun stood up from the table to embrace the man. Sicheng bit his lip as he watched the man wrap his arms around Kun’s waist and hug him tightly, Kun smiled into the man’s shoulder as they hugged and jealousy mixed with a bit of possessiveness settled uncomfortably in Sicheng’s stomach. But it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain in his chest when the tall man leaned down to press his lip’s to Kun’s cheek. The kiss was short and relatively insignificant but still drove Sicheng mad. He made a noise of disgust as they sat down and Kun looked dreamily at the other man. Dejun looked up from his journal and followed Sicheng’s gaze across the cafe. 

Suddenly all the air in the room disappeared. Dejun’s eyes widened almost comically as he looked at the man sitting across from Kun. He was perfect. Dejun had lived longer than he’d like to admit and in the time he’d been alive he’d seen Sicheng get his heart broken hundreds, if not thousands of times. He’d sworn off love many, many years ago; but he fell in lust with people every damn day.

“Careful Dejun you’ll start drooling,” Sicheng smirked as he watched Sicheng ogle at the man sitting across from Kun. 

Dejun rolled his eyes, “What are you going to do about that?” Sicheng sighed and looked at Kun again. He’d never admit it but Dejun felt his heart pang at the hurt look on Sicheng’s face. 

“I’m not going to anything,” Dejun’s eyes widened in shock, “We’re soulmates, I don’t have to intervene, we’ll be together in time,” Sicheng nodded subtly to himself.

“Are you convincing yourself or me?”  
“I’m going to go talk to him,” The older said, standing up from the table.

“So much for ‘in time’,” Dejun muttered as Sicheng crossed the cafe to Kun.

Sicheng wouldn’t be surprised if his skin was green, Kun was laughing at something the other man said, that sparkle in his eye that Sicheng had only ever seen when Kun looked at him. The other man winked at Kun making Sicheng walk a little faster, and force a fake smile as he approached the table.

Kun looked up at Sicheng as he approached and all his worries disappeared. If Kun’s eyes were shining looking at the other man, they were glowing looking at Sicheng. He should know by now that Kun never has eyes for anyone but him. 

“Hey!” Kun stood up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Sicheng, he was a little taken aback but quickly hugged him back, always grateful for any affection he got from Kun, “Sorry,” He blushed as he pulled away, “I like hugs.”

“That’s alright,” Sicheng turned to look at the other man, “My name is Sicheng, I don’t think we’ve met,” He tried to sound as neutral as possible, but he’s also pretty sure he failed.

“Lucas,” The other boy nodded and smiled as if he hadn’t noticed Sicheng’s cold introduction.

“Lucas is one of our other groupmates, Hendery and YangYang should be here soon too,” right the group project. Kun was in his senior year of college, meaning Sicheng was too, and they had to complete a final project to earn their degree. Sicheng obviously wasn’t in it for the degree but Kun was and that was enough of a reason for him to go back to school for the nth time. Even if Dejun made fun of him for it endlessly. “Did you maybe want to stay?” Kun asked shyly “We could get to know each other more and I’m sure it would be nice to know more people,” He smiles up at Sicheng hopefully. Sicheng bit his lip, he wanted to stay, he looked back at his table, he couldn’t just leave Dejun. He wasn’t that shitty.

“I would,” Kun’s face lit up again, “but my friend is waiting, and I wouldn’t want to intrude or anything,” Sicheng smiled, scratching the back of his neck.

“He could stay and hang out too, I mean if you want, but like no pressure really,” Kun rambled, suddenly feeling nervous about being rejected. He glanced across the table to Lucas who was smirking down at the table, avoiding eye contact with Sicheng. Sicheng moved to town 11 days ago, and joined their production 211 class 9 days ago, and when their professor said he would need to join a group for their final project Kun was quick to offer. He hadn’t stopped talking about the new kid who sat in the back of their classes since he saw him. Kun was infatuated with him. 

Just as Sicheng was about to answer he felt a hand on his shoulder, “I’m going to head home, I’ve got some homework to do, see you later,” Dejun pressed a quick kiss to Sicheng’s cheek before walking away. Sicheng’s face flushed. Dejun hated seeing Sicheng upset about Kun, and if Kun could date someone else so could Sicheng, even if it was fake. All Dejun wanted was a little retaliation and Kun’s look of complete jealousy was the consolation he needed.

“Oh- uh okay, see you later,” Sicheng said, Dejun already too far to hear him.

“So does he go to the college too?” Lucas asked.

You would think that after hundreds of years of lying Sicheng would be good at coming up with lies on the spot, too bad he wasn’t, “Yeah he is, he um- he’s a STEM major, environmental science,” Dejun was going to kill him, he would never go to school and never for that if he did.

“How did you meet him then? The STEM buildings are on the other side of campus,” Lucas’ eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“I didn’t meet him here, we live together,” both boys' eyes widened at the information.

“So you guys are like together?” Both of the boys looked oddly disappointed and confused. 

“No, it’s not like that. We’re just friends, we’ve known each other for a long time, it’s just complicated,” Sicheng laughed awkwardly.

“Like ‘I’m in love with him and he’s not in love with me’ complicated or the other way around?” 

Sicheng’s brain completely stopped working, hung up on one stupid word, “I’m sorry what?” 

“Are you in love with him or is he in love with you?” That’s four times and no one’s dead, Sicheng’s hands shook beneath the table. 

“Neither, we really are just friends,” Sicheng was desperately trying to hold it together, he felt like all blood flow to his brain had stopped, change the subject he thought, “He’s more interested in you than me honestly,” he told Lucas.

“Really?’ Lucas perked up, sitting a little straighter in his chair.

“Yeah, why? Were you interested in him?” Sicheng raised his eyebrow at Lucas whose cheeks were a light pink color. Maybe I won’t be waiting for Kun after all.

“Not if that’s going to make this group project really awkward,” Lucas smiled and chuckled lightly trying to break the awkward tension.

Sicheng shrugged and smiled, “It won’t, I promise Dejun and I are just friends, you can have him. It’ll be nice to see him bother someone other than me.” 

Both Lucas and Kun laughed and slouched back in their chairs. The three boys sat in the coffee shop for about two hours, simultaneously working on the project and just talking and joking around. These were some of Sicheng’s favorite times. Just getting to see Kun be himself, to see him smile and laugh, not a care in the world. It reminded him so much of their first life together. They had absolutely no worries, no jobs, or school, or even other people. It was just them. In every life since their first one they had other things that got in the way of them. Whether it was a job or a boyfriend or family or just generally life things, it was so rare to see the real Kun shine through years of experiences but no matter how many times he reincarnated, he was Kun. Always a little different, but at his core he was still the Kun Sicheng fell in love with the first time.

“Idiots,” Kun mumbled under his breath typing away furiously at his phone, “Yang and Hendery are at the apartment and they want us to go there.”

“Should we go? We need Yang to do his part,” Lucas asked, looking up from his laptop.

Kun sighed and bit his lip, “Would you come with us?” he looked to Sicheng.

“You could invite Dejun too,” Lucas added.

“Why don’t you be a little more obvious Lucas?” Kun smirked as the other boy turned pink.

“Like you’re any less obvious Mr. ‘He can be in our group!’” Lucas said, mocking Kun. 

This time Sicheng’s cheeks flushed pink, “I can see if Dejun wants to, if that’s okay with you,” He looked at Kun who was avoiding eye contact with Sicheng. 

“Yeah, I’d love for you guys to come,” Kun smiled shyly. 

Things got along well that month. They all hung out that night after the cafe and became quick friends. Dejun and Lucas had practically become attached at the hip, which was odd considering Dejun’s track record of one night stands. Hendery and YangYang were nice enough, they constantly bickered and were constantly up to no good and unless you looked close you’d probably just assume they were friends. And as for Kun and Sicheng things were as normal as they could be. It took a week after the cafe for Kun to ask Sicheng out which in all honesty was longer than Sicheng expected. And since then things have been so normal. They spent almost every day together, they’d walk to class together, Sicheng practically lived at Kun’s apartment, seeing as Dejun and Lucas were at his every night. Things were weird this time and Sicheng couldn’t figure out why which was making him more and more nervous. He could usually tell when it was getting close to the end, but he had no idea this time. Lucas, Hendery, and YangYang talked about love and said they loved each other all the time and it took almost two weeks for Sicheng to stop flinching everytime they said it, but Kun had never said it but Sicheng wasn’t sure what would happen when he did. Never had he heard anyone else say it and Dejun was just as confused the first time he had heard it. Things were very different this time.

Sicheng was distracted from his thoughts as he heard quick footsteps coming down the stairs, “Where are you going?” 

“Lucas’ apartment,” Dejun said, slipping on his shoes, “Do you want to come?” 

“I don’t know if he wants to see me right now.”

“Shut up and put on your shoes. Of course he wants to see you, you’re his soulmate,” When Sicheng didn’t move from his spot on the couch Dejun sighed and went to sit next to him.

“Okay, what’s going on, why don’t you want to see him?” 

Sicheng let his head fall back against the couch, his eyes closing, “Something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean,” he lifted his head and turned to look at Dejun, “Something is different this time, I know you didn’t believe me at first but you have to see it now. There is something wrong I just know it.”

Dejun breathed out harshly through his nose and looked away from Sicheng, “What is it? What do you know?” Sicheng pressed.

They sat in silence for a moment, Dejun contemplating what he was going to say next. Suddenly he pulled up his sleeve and held out his arm, “It’s not healing,” he said nodding his head at the burn that ran across his forearm, “It’s been over a week, it’s healing at mortal speed. I wasn’t going to say anything but…” Sicheng stared at the scarred skin trying to process what he’d just heard. Nothing like this had ever happened. Dejun always denied him when he made claims like this but now he was agreeing and that scared Sicheng even more. 

“What do we do?” Sicheng said, meeting Dejun’s eyes again.

“I don’t know we can talk about it later,” He quickly pulled his sleeve down, “But for now we should go,” Sicheng went to protest but Dejun was faster, “Look if something really is different this time, this could be your last life with him, you should enjoy as much time with him as possible,” Sicheng’s throat tightened as he thought about Dejun’s words and he quickly got up off the couch to pull on his shoes.

The drive to the apartment was quick and Sicheng had never been more grateful for the short distance between the two homes. As soon as he stepped foot in the apartment arms wrapped around his waist and hugged him tightly, a kiss being pressed to his cheeks. Sicheng smiled and nuzzled his face into Kun’s bleached hair as he hugged him just as tightly. Dejun’s words had gotten to him, he was going to spend every minute with Kun as if it was his last. The both pulled away from the hug and Sicheng was quick to pull Kun’s face between his hands and press their lips together, Kun making a quiet noise of surprise at Sicheng’s sudden urgency. Suddenly there was a commotion in the living room, the two youngest boys wolf whistling crudely making Kun pull away from Sicheng. 

“You two are gross,” Hendery said teasingly.

“As if you two aren’t disgustingly in love,” Sicheng flinched at that. His heart pounded as he waited for Kun to disappear from existence yet again, but it never happened. He stayed right in front of Sicheng, playfully bantering with Hendery. Sicheng started at Kun in complete amazement, his brain working overtime trying to figure out what was going on. 

“Are you okay?” Kun's voice finally registered in his head, shaking him from his thoughts. He looked around, he was standing in the middle of Kun’s room, his boyfriend sat on the edge of the bed. When had he gotten there? He looked back to Kun, a worried look etched onto the blonde’s features.

“Sorry…” Sicheng took a deep breath and looked away from Kun, “It’s just been a long day.” 

Kun stood up from the bed and wrapped his arms around Sicheng again, making their eyes lock, “Is that why you weren’t in class today?” When Sicheng didn’t answer, he lifted one of his hands to cradle Sicheng’s face, “What's going on here?” He asked, gently tapping Sicheng’s temple. 

The dark haired boy sighed, and leaned forward to rest his head on Kun’s shoulder, pressing his face into his neck, “I’ve just been thinking about a lot of stuff,” Sicheng let out a long sigh as Kun started running his fingers through his hair occasionally stopping to scratch at Sicheng’s scalp.

“Come lay down with me,” Kun pulled away and took Sicheng’s hand to lead him to the bed. They both climbed under the covers. SIcheng laid on his back letting Kun rest his head on his shoulder, slotting his leg between Sicheng’s, “Do you want to talk about it?”

He did. He wanted to talk about it so bad, he wanted to tell Kun everything, but he didn't want to risk anything happening sooner than it needed to, “No, I’d honestly rather talk about anything else,” He squeezed Kun closer, holding him tighter against him.

“You know I love you right?” Kun said suddenly. Sicheng froze, his throat growing tight again, waiting for Kun to disappear from his arms but again it didn’t happen, “I can hear your heart beating,” Kun chuckled sounding sort of uncomfortable, “I didn’t mean to freak you out,” Kun sat up, his back to Sicheng, “I’ve just never felt like this for anyone and I know this was kind of a weird way to tell you, it just felt like the right time and-”

“I love you too,” Kun turned around to look at Sicheng, “More than you could ever know,” Kun smiled brightly and launched himself at Sicheng, pressing their lips together with a passion Sicheng hadn’t been able to feel in a long time. Sicheng’s eyes started to burn as tears tried to spill down his cheeks. He’d never been more afraid of losing Kun than he was at this moment. He closed his eyes tighter, trying to stop the tears from falling. 

“Are you crying?” Kun asked looking down at his boyfriend lovingly. 

“I just love you a lot, like so much I don’t know how it’s possible. I never want to lose you.”

Kun cooed and kissed Sicheng gently this time, “You could never lose me, I’m going to love you forever, I promise,” Kun smiled lovingly down at Sicheng and gently wiped the tears from his cheek. 

~....................~

It had been eight months since Sicheng found Kun again, nothing had happened. They lived together now and they said I love you everyday. Sicheng was always a little scared that his world would suddenly come crashing down but Dejun had convinced him not to let his negative thoughts ruin his time with Kun. Even Dejun was doing well, finally in a relationship that lasted longer than one night, and he actually seemed happy which was rare to say the least. Everything was how Sicheng had always dreamed. He honestly was starting to think it was all going to be okay this time, that his punishment was over. That was until his least favorite person decided to show back up.

Everyone but Sicheng and Dejun had left the apartment, all of them having various errands to run or jobs to attend to and that when Ten decided to show himself after years of no contact. 

“What do you want?” Sicheng said aggressively glaring at Ten.

“What? I can’t just check in?” Ten asked innocently.

“You can, but when have you ever cared about us?” Dejun said coldly.

“What have I even done to you? You have no reason to hate me,” Ten scoffed.

“You cursed my existence the second you created me, now tell us what you want or get out,” Sicheng furrowed his brow, he never knew that was how Dejun felt about his immortality.

Ten sighed, “It’s different this time isn’t it?” Both the other boys glanced at each other debating whether or not they wanted to tell him the truth, “I know it is. I’m dying, I don’t have the power I used to.”

“How can you die, you’re basically a god,” Sicheng asked, never trusting a word Ten said.

“I’m not sure, this has never happened before, and that’s why I’m here,” Ten stood up making both boys take a step back, “I guess you could call it dying man’s guilt.”

“You still haven’t told us what you want.”

“I want to make amends. That’s all,” Ten said getting frustrated. 

“How do we know we can trust you?” Sicheng asked looking Ten up and down curiously.

“You don’t but I know you’re willing to risk it if it’s for Kun,” Sicheng’s heart drops at the vague statement. Was Ten really offering what they thought he was. 

Ten sighed, “Look. I’m willing to let you have what you want, but I don’t have enough power anymore to do it,” both boys were still confused and unsure, making Ten even more frustrated, “There has to be a sacrifice for me to have enough power to do it.” 

“To do what? Say it. Stop playing your stupid games,” Dejun folded his arms across his chest defensively.

“I’ll make Kun immortal, I just need one sacrafice, like I said, I want to make amends.”

Sicheng looked to Dejun who was looking down at the floor, sadness clear in his eyes. Sicheng would have Kun but Dejun wouldn’t have Lucas, “You have to make both of them immortal,” Sicheng demanded.

“I don’t have enough power for that,” He looked to Dejun, “I’m sorry, I’m sure you’ll find someone new,” Sicheng practically watched Dejun’s heartbreak at the words. 

There had to be a way to fix this. There had to be a way to make them all happy. Dejun had taken care of him and put up with him for way too long for Sicheng to let him down like this, he knew all too well what it was like to lose someone you love and he wouldn’t let it happen to him.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Dejun said softly, “But don’t worry about me, he’s right. I’ve never loved someone before, I’m sure I can find someone else,” His voice wavered almost painfully as he held back tears at the idea of losing Lucas.

“No, that’s exactly why I won’t let you lose him. You found your soulmate,” Sicheng sighed, “You deserve to spend as much time with him as I have with Kun. It’s only fair since you’ve put up with us for so long,” he chuckled dryly. 

Sicheng hesitated, he couldn’t believe what he was about to do, “I'll sacrifice my immortality.”

The other two looked at him with wide eyes, “How would that help, Kun will be immortal and-”

“Give my immortality to Lucas. It’s the sacrifice you need and this way we both get what we want,” He could practically hear Dejun’s jaw hit the floor.

“You don’t have to do this, you’ve waited so long…”

“Exactly,” he turned to Dejun, “I’ve spent hundreds of years with Kun, I’ve had my time, you haven’t,” he turned to Ten, “Give me one last, beautiful, mortal life with Kun. Do it.”

~....................~

Sicheng hummed contentedly, nuzzling his face into the nape of Kun’s neck, hugging him tighter, “I love you,” Kun squeezed his hand tightly and turned in Sicheng’s arms to face him.

“I love you too,” Kun held Sicheng’s face in his hands, kissing down the bridge of his nose before pressing their lips together, “What’s up with you today? You’re being clingier than normal,” Kun smiled at Sicheng, running his thumbs across the boys cheekbones. 

“I just-” Sicheng struggled to find the words, “I never want to lose you.”

Kun smiled again, ‘I promised you forever and I’ve never broken a promise.”

“We can’t live forever,” Sicheng’s lips grazed against Kun’s.

“As long as time will allow then.”


	7. Epilogue

Before the earth, the sun, and all things we know, there was love. A completely and totally perfect love. Two souls destined to be intertwined forever. Destined to be together. Nothing could stop it. No human, no god, no cosmic force. They would burn brighter than any star, last longer than all the planets and every universe. They were beyond forever. Never would there be anything so perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first fic ever! I know it's probably not the best and I had to rush a few chapters to make the fest, but I will probably go back and edit them so I can make this story exactly as I imagined so I hope you liked it enough to stick around for the updates. I also am thinking about adding a few cute fluffy type chapters about Dejun and a Lucas and Yang and Hendery, sort of like o.v.a's lol. Anyway, I hope you liked it, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated <3


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